Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)

Deputy Shortall raised a number of points that I wish to address briefly. There was a time when we had the luxury of a social insurance fund in surplus and there was more than sufficient income to cover the payments made from it each year. Given that expenditure is likely to exceed the fund by €200 million this year and €900 million next year, it is important that we try to take some measures to ensure that we can continue to pay the unfortunate increasing demands on the fund. Arising from this factor, we made changes to eligibility requirements, particularly in the jobseekers' scheme.

Regarding part-time workers, it is a solid principle that there should be a link between the amount of money one gets at work and the amount one gets in welfare to the effect that one should not get more on welfare than one gets at work. It is also important that nothing in the social welfare system should act as a disincentive to people to return to work. The change was introduced for this reason. The same situation obtains in respect of how long people spend working and the lengths of time during which they can benefit from their work. For example, migrants and young workers who have only spent a short time in the workforce should not be able to benefit for too long from whatever payments they have made. These are strong principles.

While I have mentioned the figures detailing the decrease in consistent poverty rates among lone parents, they remain the most vulnerable group and their children are those most vulnerable to the risk of poverty. My predecessors have considered this matter and relevant proposals are being worked on. I had the pleasure to meet representatives of groups such as OPEN and One Family, who provided valuable suggestions, advice and research findings in respect of this matter.

I fully accept that there are aspects of the social welfare system which militate against lone parents forming long-term relationships, marrying or obtaining well-paid jobs. Our rules on cohabitation militate against long-term relationships. That is not in the best interests of children, nor does it facilitate family formation. Our rules relating to work seem to encourage lone parents to obtain employment, be it full-time or part-time in nature. The figures released earlier indicate that their incomes have improved. However, there is no great incentive for them to make the leap into better paid jobs. As one lone parent informed me last week, she hates January because she receives an increase. The individual in question is almost inclined to ask her employer not to give her the increase because of the knock-on effects it can have in respect of the benefits she receives. I appreciate that she does not want to lose out. These are the major issues and our thinking in respect of them has progressed in the 12 months since the original proposals were published. Various groups and lone parents themselves have offered useful comments on how they have been affected.

Deputy Shortall also referred to guardianship, fostering, etc. The foster care allowance is extremely generous. People who foster children offer a very valuable service. Fostering is greatly preferable to having children placed in residential care. During my time as Minister of State with responsibility for children, the allowance was substantially increased. If the two children in the case to which the Deputy referred are over 12, then the parent in question is receiving €678 per week in respect of them. That is a reasonable amount of money.

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